ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA -- Quebec tennis player Felix Auger-Aliassime was eliminated in the first round of the Adelaide International on Monday in Australia.

Seeded second in the tournament and ranked sixth in the world, Auger-Aliassime was defeated by Australian Alexei Popyrin, a qualifier, in two sets, 6-4, 7-6(5). It was the first tournament the 22-year-old Canadian has played in this season, two weeks before the Australian Open.

Last week, he was named Canada's Outstanding Male Athlete of 2022 by The Canadian Press.

Alexei Popyrin, who is ranked No. 120 in the ATP world rankings, notched 11 aces in the match and came back in the second set to erase a 1-4 deficit.

Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, lost his doubles match -- despite the cheers of the crowd.

The holder of 21 career Grand Slam titles was expelled from Australia a year ago because of his COVID-19 vaccination status, at a time when the country had strict vaccination and quarantine rules.

The Serb and his Vancouver playing partner Vasek Pospisil lost 4-6 6-3 (10-5) to Tomislav Brkic and Gonzalo Escobar.

Djokovic will begin his singles season on Tuesday against Constant Lestienne in preparation for the Australian Open, where he will be seeking his 10th career title.

Elsewhere, Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka upset Denmark's Holger Rune 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

In the women's draw, Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic was one of the first surprises of 2023 after defeating world No. 8 Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3 in the first round.

Noskova, who is 18 years old, reached the main draw of the WTA tournament for only the fifth time in her career. The 102nd ranked player in the world had never faced, let alone defeated, a top-10 player. She had a 0-2 record against top-20 players prior to this match.

Her most notable win so far came against world No. 38 Alizé Cornet in the second round of the Prague tournament last July.

She will now face the winner of the match between local favourite Priscilla Hon and American Claire Liu.

Later in the day, fourth seed Veronika Kudermetova defeated American Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 6-0.

Canadian Denis Shapovalov is also entered in the Adelaide International. The Ontario native and his American playing partner Sebastian Korda ousted Japan's Taro Daniel and Nishioka 6-3, 6-4.

Shapovalov will begin singles play Tuesday against Australia's Rinky Hijikata.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 2, 2023